3 Digital Strategies for Local Businesses to Drive more Foot Traffic

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As foot traffic for local businesses continues to decline due to online shopping preferences, it’s essential for companies to pursue an effective digital marketing strategy. Through the use of digital marketing there are numerous strategies that businesses can implement that will help increase foot traffic. Three simple and cost effective strategies include using local business directories, advertising locally through Google AdWords, and prioritizing social media efforts.

1. Utilize Local Business Directories:
Failing to use local business directories will already put your organization at a disadvantage. Sites like Yelp, Manta, Yellow Pages, Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List, and others simply can’t be ignored. Not only are listings free to create for your business, they will help increase search visibility (SEO) and overall brand awareness. It’s worth pointing out that from our current SEO work we have been noticing that local business directories are dominating the organic results. Interested to see how well your business ranks online? Run a free scan on the Onimod Global website by CLICKING HERE.

2. Local advertising with Google AdWords:
In addition to local business directories, advertising locally through Google AdWords can be another effective digital strategy for driving foot traffic. According to the Search Engine Journal, “1 out of every 3 online searches now has local intent.” Some benefits of running local search ads include: increasing local visibility, generating phone calls from customers, and an overall enhancement in local awareness. Ultimately, advertising locally with Google AdWords will ensure your business with a competitive advantage if used efficiently.

3. Prioritize Social Media:
Using social media as a local business seems like an obvious and easy way to increase foot traffic, yet there’s more to social media than just posting once or twice per week. According to DMN “over half of consumers say they’re influenced to think highly of a business after seeing positive praise online.” Now in order for a local business to get plenty of recognition through social media, it starts with connecting with customers and making them feel important. All local businesses should focus on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus as social media starting points. When local presence increases other platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Snapchat can come into play. Essentially, being consistent and visible on multiple social media channels will only help increase local foot traffic.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

How to Create the Perfect Digital Marketing Strategy

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The key to a great digital marketing campaign is the well thought out plan behind it. If you try to launch any campaign without specific directives, it’s likely that you will waste a lot of time and money without producing any real results. This is why many businesses turn to a digital marketing professional. The experts at Onimod Global are here to assist you, and provide insight into what it takes to put together a high quality digital marketing strategy.

Persona Development

Every marketing strategy should be focused around the consumer. The first step in your strategy is to identify who this consumer is. Many professionals outline a buyer persona because it has been proven to be a substantially more effective marketing method.

The persona allows you as the marketer to develop a much more detailed description of your ideal target audience. These details include goals, challenges, interests, and personal priorities of the consumer.

Campaign Goals

In can also be beneficial to ask these detailed questions of your own company and product. Clearly defining the final objective is essential. Much of the strategy will be built around what you eventually hope to achieve with the digital marketing campaign.

While most plans are structured around conversions and sales, there are a wide variety of other goals to be considered. Increasing brand awareness through simple traffic and reach campaigns can be very effective. It is also common to launch campaigns with the intent to gather positive reviews about a product or company. Make sure that you are considering all of your options before moving on to the next step.

Measurement

Your measurements will depend upon the chosen objective for the marketing strategy. Determining the overall success of your digital marketing initiatives will be shown through key performance indicators.

Common key indicators are conversion rates, click-through rates, and overall impressions. If your campaign spans across multiple platforms, it would be wise to link them all together in Google Analytics.

Analyze

Google Analytics is a wonderful tool for digital marketers. This program allows you to combine all of your data into one easily manageable source. After letting all of your ads run over the course of a few weeks, you should have plenty of solid information regarding your marketing efforts. Once the data is compiled, it is easy to glean insights about the campaign.

Analytics provides an opportunity to compare all marketing mediums in use side by side. This way you can clearly see if the Facebook ads are outperforming the Bing ads. Looking at the overall performance of these many platforms can help you see which is most successful, and which is not.

Revisit and Readjust

Now that you possess tons of information and insight into your digital marketing activities. Using analytical tools you should be able to pick out details about the different ads and how they are running across different platforms.

With this information, you should be able to determine how to best spend your ad dollar. Trim the fat of the campaign and eliminate poorly performing advertising options. Or, you can try to rewrite your ads completely and start fresh.

Whatever you decide to do, now you know how. A new plan must be created every step of the way. They do not all have to be incredibly complicated or intricate, but they do need to be intelligent business decisions. The key to any advertising strategy is to have one. Plain and simple.

Why Digital Marketing is a Major Career Opportunity

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With Digital Marketing being the heaviest advertising route used by most organizations today, the career opportunities are flourishing. Whether through digital marketing agencies or companies hiring “in house,” there are plenty of jobs to be filled. Many individuals from the older generations are unfamiliar with concepts like SEO, SEM, Social Media Marketing, Website Development, and other parts of the digital world. Listed below are some reasons as to why digital marketing continues to be a “hot” field for many years to come.

1. Heavy Demand:
It’s no surprise that the demand for digital marketing experts is increasing at a rapid rate. According to the Digital Marketing Institute, “It is anticipated that there would be around 150,000 digital marketing jobs at the end of 2020 and not enough professionals to fulfill them. there will also be a rise in demand for digital marketing professionals by about 38% this year.” Therefore, learning the appropriate digital marketing skills will provide you with a huge competitive advantage in the job hunt.

2. Always Changing:
Digital marketing is an ever changing industry. Web, mobile, and other digital technologies are changing at an extremely fast pace. So why is this a reason to pursue a digital marketing career? Most people aren’t comfortable with or afraid of a field that always adapts, so they decide to stay away from it. It’s essential to understand and stay on top of the current trends in digital marketing to outsmart competitors. See how a client of ours (Theory) utilizes digital marketing to maintain a competitive advantage in the bar industry in Chicago. CLICK HERE to view the case study.

3. Field for Everyone:
The entire landscape of digital marketing consists of numerous skill sets, making it applicable for all sorts of jobs. Many digital marketing organizations not only consist of SEO/SEM strategists, they include graphic designers, business development executives, content writers, social media specialists, and other opportunities. Ultimately, digital marketing is a versatile industry, meaning it requires a mixture of these numerous skills. Passionate about social media, being creative, or writing? Then the digital marketing industry may be for you.

4. Great Opportunity for Advancement:
In addition to the great job outlook for digital marketing careers, the opportunity for advancement in the field is also promising. Entry level positions out of college typically consist of digital marketing strategists, social media specialists, SEO/SEM strategists, etc. If you’re able to catch on quick and continually learn more about the digital marketing world then advancement to an upper level position is highly feasible. Digital marketing managers, director of digital, or a VP of marketing for example are all respectable and reachable advancement opportunities.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

4 Best Apps for the Every Day Marketer

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Employee burn-out is all too common in today’s work space. As digital marketing grows within many different companies, additional effort is needed from the staff. More focus, more commitment, more creativity, and mainly more hours.

The use of these apps are a simple way to stay on track and maintain a healthy work environment. They all service a different type of need from relaxation to productivity and organization. Find out how these apps can best serve you in your day-to-day work life.

 

Stress Relief:

Buddhify

Stress is entirely too familiar for many working adults. As of February 2017, Statista reported that 39% of U.S. adults experience stress at work or in their professional lives. To ease this stress, we recommend the use of Buddhify.

Buddhify is an app to help alleviate tension and worry through its many guided meditations. The Buddhify app has been gaining a lot of attention, from BuzzFeed in particular, for being a good stress reliever. The app offers a range of meditations for any kind of situation or mood, including one called “Work Break”.

Not only does the “Work Break” track assist many in escaping their stressful realities, but there are also several other useful options. “Ready”, “Being Online”, and “Feeling Stressed” are additional great choices that leave one feeling refreshed and balanced.

Onward

As a digital marketer, you are likely to spend a majority of your time sitting and looking at a screen. Onward helps you understand just how much screen time you are actually adding up each day.

The app also breaks down the time you spend on screen into different categories. Social media, news, and communication are all major culprits of excessive screen time. Once the app determines your amount of screen time, it can then suggest things you can do to lessen that time.

 

Productivity:

Fonta

Many digital marketers often dabble in graphic design from time to time. Unfortunately, it can be hard to be a Photoshop or Adobe InDesign pro with very limited experience. This is where Fonta can help.

Fonta is a unique little design studio app with the ability to change an image using many simple special effects. You can create stylish captions across your image, change up the background, add a funky border, or try out some new lighting effects in this user friendly app.

The best part is that this app is free! Normally priced at $0.99, Fonta has recently removed its charge, making it even easier for beginners to produce high quality illustrations.

Source

Organization:

CamCard

Have you ever made an amazing spur-of-the-moment professional connection but didn’t have a business card to give them? Most people outside of the sales occupation do not carry business cards. They are often forgotten about until a moment, like the one just mentioned, where you begin kicking yourself for not having them in the first place.

With CamCard, you are able to store and share business cards anytime and anywhere, so long as you have your smartphone. This app scans and automatically stores new business cards. It can also exchange e-cards with other users, eliminating the need for a physical paper card altogether.

5 Tips for Creating Effective Landing Pages

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When seeking conversions of any sort, a landing page can “make or break” a user’s decision to convert. Building a compelling landing page tailored for conversions is much easier said than done. There are numerous factors that go into the creation of a landing page, but what separates good landing pages apart from bad ones? This post will explore five effective landing page practices from our previous experiences thus far at Onimod Global.

1. Use a Landing Page Template:
In today’s digital world, setting up a landing page from scratch may already put you at a disadvantage. There are many online resources out there that provide user friendly templates to get you started on the right path. Some that come to mind are Instapage, Leadpages, Unbounce, and certain WordPress plugins. Most landing pages that you’ll come across today are most likely created from a template.

2. Emphasis on Call to Action:
Having a clear call to action is one of the most important features for any landing page. The call to action is essentially what you want website visitors to do. Some highly used call to action phrases include: buy now, register, more info, sign up, contact us, etc. It’s also important to not distract site visitors with lots of other requests on the page. There should typically be only one, clear cut call to action. Ultimately, the call to action is by far the most important aspect of any landing page.

3. A/B Testing:
A/B testing is one of the most efficient strategies when it comes to finalizing a landing page. A/B testing consists of tweaking certain characteristics to test one landing page layout against another. Characteristics that can be tested include text font, color, size of buttons, navigation features, subheadings, use of bullet points, and any other web page feature you desire. The overall purpose of A/B testing is to ensure that your landing page is user friendly with main points and the call to action being “eye catching.”

4. Precise Information:
The last thing you want to do with any landing page is ramble on with information and drive potential conversions away. Over time research has indicated that the more choices you offer people, the less chance you have of getting desired conversions. A couple of questions to ask yourself when constructing a landing page are “do I really need to gather every piece of information possible?” or “is it relevant to include every piece of company information?” Keeping forms short and simple will most likely increase your response rates and moving all company info to the “about” page is probably your best bet.

5. Show Off Credibility:
It’s no surprise that consumers tend to place a higher value on products/services that other people have already approved. Showing off statistics, testimonials, or mentions from the media is an effective way to display an organization’s credibility. Great testimonials in particular should always be showcased somewhere on the landing page. Word of mouth is a powerful thing, whether it comes in the form of testimonials or even likes and shares.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

The New Sephora Studio Digital Experience

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As internet sales soar, it is no surprise that overall foot traffic in and out of physical store locations is declining. Retailers everywhere are looking for solutions that will bring their customers back to shop in-store. Sephora, an international beauty-retail company with over 2,300 current store locations, is emerging with digital answers to this issue.

The first ever “Sephora Studio” was recently unveiled in Boston, and is notably different from any other Sephora location. The average Sephora is stationed inside of a mall and spans roughly 5,500 square feet of never-ending cosmetic glory. These new studios, however, will have more unique placements near downtown marketplaces and will only cover 2,000 square feet.

These alterations are all part of Sephora’s new business plan. CEO Calvin McDonald explains, “In today’s retail environment where very little is constant and clients’ expectations are ever-evolving, one thing has remained true for SEPHORA: there is no better way to create meaningful connections with clients than through personalized experiences and a customized approach to beauty. We could not be more focused on that notion than we are with the opening of SEPHORA Studio.”

The idea is to use modern technologies to establish a real relationship with the consumer. These kinds of connections breed intense brand loyalty. The best way to get customers to stick around is to give them a meaningful and seamless experience with your product.

This process is made even easier by the iPhone 7s that all associates carry with them around the store. These phones replace the need for bulky and immobile registers by allowing the associates to ring up a customer’s purchase from anywhere in store.

An incredible number of new services have also been released within Sephora’s mobile interface. Users now have access to a variety of tools to assist them before, during, and after their store visit. A “virtual artist”, makeover and mini facial scheduling options are just a few features included in this groundbreaking digital experience.

The Boston location is currently the only Sephora Studio in existence. However, there are already plans to expand the studios across the east coast. According to the Boston Herald, new venues in Brooklyn, New York, Hoboken, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. are all expected to arrive within the next year.

4 Reasons Why Your Blog Traffic is Poor

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Driving traffic to a blog is much easier said than done. The internet is filled with millions of blogs and it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. There are many potential reasons behind the struggles of your blog traffic. Whether it’s bad SEO, inconsistency, or boring content, it’s never too late to “resurrect” your blog and turn things around. From our blogging experiences at Onimod Global, we have came up with four major reasons listed below as to why your blog traffic may be struggling at the moment.

1. SEO is Lacking:
Ensuring that your blog posts are as highly optimized as possible for relevant search queries must be a top priority. It’s important to point out that a strong SEO presence doesn’t just happen overnight, it takes time and effort. Some facets of your blog to pay the most attention to regarding SEO are the URL title, meta descriptions, key words, headlines of articles, etc. Downloading an SEO plugin for your blog will also help. “Yoast SEO” for instance is by far the most popular SEO plugin for WordPress and should be utilized by all users.

2. Low Emphasis on Social Media:
In addition to focusing on SEO, sharing blog content on multiple social media platforms will most likely be the most effective way to drive traffic. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, Google Plus, and other social mediums should all be utilized. The hardest aspect of sharing content on social media is gaining a respectable and loyal following. If your blog is in its early stages and seeking initial traffic, try requesting friends and family members to share your posts through their social media accounts. You never know who will come across your blog and become a fan of your content.

3. Inconsistent Posting:
The last thing viewers/readers want to see is inconsistency or inactivity when it comes to blog posting.  If you want readers to keep coming back and become “regulars” you need to be consistent with your blog. Consistent and frequent posting can also be a factor when it comes to SEO. The more content you put out there online, the better chance you have of ranking on search engines. Ultimately, not sticking to a consistent posting schedule will most likely result in one thing – a decrease in viewership.

4. Headlines and Content lack Engagement:
It’s not hard to figure out that in order for a blog to become successful and drive traffic, the headlines and overall content must be engaging. Headlines should always be designed to grab attention because it is the first impression that potential readers will have of your blog. Your content could be stellar, but if headlines are bad people will have zero interest in clicking on your posts. Regarding content, if you want readers to keep coming back and even start to share posts, your content must be compelling. The famous saying “content is king” is extremely accurate when it comes to blog posting. At the end of the day, if your blog content sucks readers will have no interest in coming back.

Contact Us: For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, visit the Onimod Global Website. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the world of digital marketing. Enjoy!

How the Healthcare Industry is Utilizing Digital Marketing Strategies

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Healthcare is something that is required by every individual. It is a universal need due to the fact that inevitably, everyone gets ill at some point. This need produces an enormous industry and marketplace, which is just beginning to scratch the surface of digital marketing.

While there is money to be made in such a large industry, the primary concern has always been to help people. So how do outsell others in the healthcare business? To answer this question, many organizations are turning to digital marketing.

Best Practices, LLC recently released an article on how pharmaceutical companies are investing more and more into digital marketing. Their goals are to use digital technologies to learn more about their customers and build solid relationships with them.

All of the major digital advertising platforms are equipped with advanced targeting options. The key is to streamline your ads to the perfect audience. Best Practices, LLC took it upon themselves to discover exactly who this audience contains in their report, “Digital Innovation Path: Trends in Healthcare Digital Marketing Innovation, Customer Engagement, Investment and Approvals.”

Key findings in the report conclude that non-branded websites repeatedly drive high ROIs for many businesses, and that implementing standardized templates and open communications with patients is vital.

Digital marketing teams are provided with a substantial amount of creativity when working with non-branded websites. This allows them to be incredibly innovative and successful when it comes to returns for the company.

It is not surprising to also find that simplistic continuity is preferred by consumers. It is essential to keep the process as smooth as possible for those working their way through it. If a problem does arise, it is also important that they can easily reach out for help. Using live chat messaging systems is a common solution to this issue, and is typically received positively by users.

Other general digital marketing strategies to implement in the healthcare field are:

  • Use of Engaging Visual Content: The more original and exceptional content you produce, the better. People want to see you engaging with others and talking about current issues. This helps potential customers see that you care about what is going on in the world, and that you also care about them.
  • Build a Credible Brand Identity: If you want to be taken seriously, then you need a credible brand. This goes hand-in-hand with delivering creative content. Build out your brand by establishing it on other platforms. Social media profiles are the easiest, and cheapest, way to show consumers that your company is legitimate.
  • Have a Quality Website: A good website is another sign of strong brand credibility. This aspect can also increase your visibility and conversion rates. Search engine optimization is what allows websites to rank higher on the first page of Google search results. If Google’s algorithm deems your website as being relevant to users, then it will automatically push it to a higher position. While SEO is a bit complicated and time consuming, it can produce great organic results for your business.

5 Ways to Increase your Organization’s Impact on Twitter

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Consistently posting on a business Twitter account may start to feel like a meaningless and repetitive task, yet it’s important to build a brand and keep audiences engaged. According to Marketing Land, there are “currently over 300 million monthly active users on Twitter, with 50% of these users being more likely to be consumers of the brands they follow.” Therefore, your company’s Twitter activity must be a priority and listed below are a few ways to maximize your impact on the social media giant.

1. Interact with your Audience:
It’s very easy to ignore or forget about replies and direct messages from followers. Keeping track and replying in a timely manner will make your audience feel important and connected to your brand. It’s also a facet that will set you apart from other company Twitter accounts. Look at Jimmy John’s for instance, they take pride in interacting with their customers and have gained a large following on Twitter as a result (476K followers). Ultimately, if you go the “extra mile” when it comes to interacting with followers you will get noticed.

2. Follow Trends and Hashtags:
This concept may seem like a simple task, yet many business accounts either ignore or forget to utilize hashtags and trends that Twitter has to offer. The major benefit of paying attention to trends is more visibility. We’re not suggesting to overuse hashtags, but implementing at least 2-3 per tweet will have a positive effect on your impressions, interactions, and overall visibility. #MondayMotivation or #FridayFeeling for example are two frequently trending hashtags that can easily be inserted in tweets to catch more eyeballs.

3. “Follow and Retweet for a Chance to Win”:
This is one of the most common Twitter strategies in the game, but don’t underestimate it’s effectiveness. If you’re a frequent Twitter user you probably encounter these tweets all the time. It’s simple, fun, and an effective way to build relationships with current and future consumers while growing followers at the same time. Although many users may unfollow your account if they don’t win anything, your tweet will still produce a ton of impressions and enhance brand awareness.

4. Allocate Time into Profile:
As simple as this idea sounds, many companies don’t put in enough time and effort to their Twitter profiles. Depending on the industry, tweeting at least 3-5 times per week will show consistency. Inactivity for long periods of time can be a turnoff for potential consumers. Even paying attention to simple aspects like your profile images, bio, and likes can have a major impact on your brand’s image. Setting up a schedule each week for when, what, and how much to tweet is one easy way to maintain a consistent Twitter presence.

5. Don’t Solely Focus on Products/Services:
It’s obvious that Twitter and social media in general is a large marketplace for product/service promotion, but followers don’t like being bombarded with product information. This could potentially make your account look like a scammer and you will lose followers as a result. One idea for producing content is to pay close attention to how competitors use their Twitter and make note of which types of posts draw the most engagement. Another idea is to interact about what’s happening within your community. Essentially, the overall concept with tweeting content is to be as relevant as possible to your audience’s interests.

Follow Us: If you enjoy reading our content be sure to give us a follow at @OnimodGlobal or visit our website at www.onimodglobal.com. We provide weekly news updates on the latest in the digital marketing world!

Timing Is Everything, Especially in Digital Marketing

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Believe it or not there are many times when digital marketing is more effective than others. Find out how to best reach your intended audience in time with this short article from Onimod Global!

Yearly:

Many businesses typically break down their yearly events by quarters, and this schedule is no different. This tactic helps to keep things from getting too overwhelming and muddled. By separating the year into 4 identifiable groups, you can better concentrate your marketing efforts with a clear marketing strategy.

In every quarter you need to make sure that you are paying attention to major holidays. New Years, Easter, The 4th of July, and Christmas are only a few of the major holidays to consider when constructing your game plan.

Center your special offers and promotions around these times. These dates will make up the most important peaks in interest when consumers are shopping around for good deals and specials.

Monthly:

Start off strong. It is always better to put in the hard work and effort at the beginning, rather than try and catch up towards the end. Do not procrastinate. Even if you plan to run certain campaigns toward the end of the month, you can still prepare.

All of the major digital advertising platforms allow you to schedule your ads for future dates. Get a head start and queue these up  at the beginning of the month so you’re not in a panic come week 4.

Weekly:

Put yourself into this type of situation. How would you react to an ad when you’ve got a case of the Mondays? It is generally best to steer clear of advertising during the beginning of the week, since many busy adults are still trying to get back into the swing of things after a nice relaxing weekend.

As the week rolls on, we begin to see an uptick in consumer engagement with ads. Thursdays and Fridays are particularly successful days, according to various infographics on Hubspot.

Weekends are a bit hit-or-miss. Some platforms report steady traffic on Saturdays and Sundays, while others suggest to hold off until the following Tuesday or Wednesday. This exact timing will depend on your specific business, and what you can conclude after experimenting with a few ads over the weekend.

Daily:

The same infographics from Hubspot list the best times of the day to post on the top 5 social media platforms. For Facebook, advertisers should post between 1-4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays for their largest window of opportunity. All weekdays from 12-3 p.m. are prime times to engage with users on Twitter. LinkedIn is very concentrated throughout the average workday Tuesday-Thursday. Pinterest users are most active during the evening and very late/early hours of 2-4 a.m. Finally, Instagram is most effective anytime of the day from Monday-Thursday, except between 3 and 4 p.m.

For more information regarding digital marketing expertise, please visit our website at www.onimodglobal.com. We provide weekly news updates on the latest and greatest in digital marketing. Enjoy!